The unbeaten Cuban, widely considered the No 1 super-bantamweight, though criticism being raised about his safety-first approach in his previous bouts, gave fans a glimpse of his firepower against an over-matched opponent.

When the pair came together, a head-clash sent Kokietgym down on the canvas, Rigondeaux pounced and immediately landed a combination that dropped Kokietgym, after they touched gloves when action resumed.

The bout was then waved off by referee Mark Nelson after just 1:44 of the first round.

Also on the card, two-time Chinese Olympic gold medallist and national icon Zou Shiming (5-0, 1 KO) won a unanimous decision over Luis De la Rosa (23-4-1, 13 KOs) of Columbia for the WBO international flyweight title.

Shiming took control from the opening bell in his first ten-rounder, as he hit De la Rosa solidly and at will. Despite this, De la Rosa was very game, even after suffering a bad cut to his left eyebrow due to an accidental headbutt in the 5th round, nailing Shiming every once in a while. But Shiming continued to pick De la Rosa apart with quick in and out combinations. The judges scores were 99-91, 99-91, 97-93.

Mexican super middleweight Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (29-0, 23 KOs) destroyed an over-matched Australian Junior Talipeau (20-2-2, 7 KOs) in the first round of a bout for the WBO International and NABF super middleweight belts. The mismatch was halted at 1:58 after 6’2” Ramirez dropped Talipeau for a third time with a left hand to the head.